Motive fuel converter



Feb. 19, 1952 c. M. THOMAS MOTIVE FUEL CONVERTER Filed March 2, 1950 INVENTOR. flare/me 11 7 1 ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 19, 1952 MQ'IIVE FUEL CONVERTER Clarence Thomas, Houston, Tex., assignor of one-fourth to Lawrence County, Tex.

H. Stahl, Harris Application March 2, 195.0, Serial No. 147,163

This invention relates to a motive fuel converter.

An object of the invention is to provide equ1pment of the character described which will take a motive fluid in liquid state from a reserve tank and convert it into gas and deliver the same to the manifold of a motor or to any other point of consumption.

. It is a further object of the invention to provide equipment of the character described especially designed for use in connection with internal combustion motors and which will dispense with the necessity of a carburetor.

Another object of the invention is to provide equipment of the character described which will convert the liquid fuel into a gas and deliver the gasin a drystate into the intake manifold of a combustion motor.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following specification which is illustrated by the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, with arrows indicating the travel of the gas through the mixing tank.

Figure 2 is a top sectional view of the manifold connection, taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a side elevational view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a top plan view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1, illustrating the baffle chambers in the mixing tank.

Figure 5 is an end elevational view, in section, of the mixing tank taken on the line 55 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is an end view of the mixing tank, partly broken away, and

Figure 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the baiile chamber employed.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the numeral I designates a tank which is equipped with an air intake valve 2. A suitable spring-loaded adjusting nut 3 is employed to regulate the opening and closing of the valve 2. A series of baille chambers 4 are mounted on the floor of the tank I. Each chamber has a series of ports as 5, 5. A baffle plate 5 is mounted on the top wall of the tank I and extends downwardly and at an abrupt angle into the tank.

An upstanding partition I extends from the floor of the tank I, adjacent one end thereof, to a point near the top wall of the tank I, forming a drying chamber 8. A conduit 9 leads from said chamber 8 in which a filtering screen I fl is mounted. The conduit 9 leads into a safety 2 Claims. (01. 261-.-119) side of the safety valve I I, a conduit I2 '0: sufficient length to condense the wet vapors flowing therethrough, extends into the intake pipe I3 leading into the manifold I! of the combustion motor I5. A back pressure valve I 4 is mounted in the conduit I2 adjacent the said intake pipe I3. A hinged cover 23 is mounted on the extended free end of the intake pipe I3 and has a spring 24 constantly urging said cover into closed position. A seat, as 25, is preferably ground into the end of the pipe I3 to receive the cover 23 when in closed position. A manually controlled intake valve I6 is mounted in said pipe I3 between the valve I4 and the manifold I1, and is manipulated by the lever I8.

A conduit I9 extends from the fuel reservoir (not shown) to a suitable fuel pump as and the fuel is pumped from said reservoir to the mixing ventional ball check valve and from the outlet tank I through the conduit 2|. The conduits 9, I2 are of comparatively greater diameter than the usual fuel conduits used on combustion motors and because the conduit I2 must be of sufficient length to bring about partial condensation, it may be coiled one or more times as at 22. The increased diameter of the conduits 9, I2 hasten the drying process of the vapor flowing therethrough.

A float valve as 26 is mounted in the tank I and is in connection with the conduit 2| and maintains the desired level of fuel in the tank I.

As the motor I5 is started, the fuel pump 20 will pump fuel into the tank I through the valve 26. The suction created by the manifold through the conduits I2, 9, draw air through the valve 2 and this air will be directed by the valve 2 downwardly onto the surface of the fuel in the tank I, agitating the fuel, causing the fuel to vaporize and the vapor thus given off being drawn by the suction of the manifold II, together with the air drawn in through the valve 2, against the baflles 6 and I and into the chamber 8, thence through the conduit 9 and the screen I0, through the safety valve I I into the conduit I2. These vapors will be wet when entering the conduit 9 and after passing through the screen II), will be partially dried, but after passing through a portion of the conduit I2 will condense and the condensate will flow back into the tank 8 and only the dry vapors will continue on through the conduit I2 into the manifold IT. The valve IE will be manually manipulated to control the rate of flow through the intake pipe I3 into the manifold H. In the event of a backfire from the motor I5, the force of the backfire will close the back pressure valve I4, preventing the backfire from passing into the conduits I2, 9, and forcing the spring loaded.

hinged cap 23 open, permitting the force of the backfire to be spent therethrough.

While the foregoing illustrates a preferred form of the invention, it is to be understood that it is by way of illustration only, the broad principle of the invention being defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a motive fuel converter, a mixing tank, a feed line entering the tank, a delivery line leading from the tank, and a series of bafiie chambers mounted on the floor of the tank having interconnecting ports, an air intake valve in said tank having means for directing incoming air onto the surface of the fuel in said tank, baffles extending from the top and bottom walls of said tank between said chambers and said delivery line.

2. In a motive fuel converter, a mixing tank, a feed line entering the tank, a delivery line leading from the tank, a series of bafiie chambers mounted on the floor of the tank having interconnecting ports, an air intake valve in said tank having means for directing incoming air onto the surface of motive fuel in said tank, baflies extending from the top and bottom walls of said tank between said chambers and said delivery line, means in said delivery line for separating the wet vapors from the dry vapors and returning the wet vapors to said tank.

CLARENCE M. THOMAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 951,501 Hancock Mar. 8, 1910 1,524,333 Brandt et al June 27, 1925 1,634,022 Dalton June 28, 1927 2,000,498 Rickabaugh May 7, 1935 2,030,922 Hirth Feb. 18, 1936 

